{"id":7060,"date":"2014-07-29T05:00:58","date_gmt":"2014-07-29T09:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.georgetoon.com\/blog\/?p=7060"},"modified":"2014-07-29T08:02:27","modified_gmt":"2014-07-29T12:02:27","slug":"summer-reading-part-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.georgetoon.com\/blog\/summer-reading-part-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Reading Part III"},"content":{"rendered":"
\""Steve<\/a><\/p>\n

“Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I’m not an Apple guy. \u00a0I’ve always been a PC guy. \u00a0I first cut my GUI (Graphic User Interface) teeth on Windows. \u00a0Heck, before Windows, I can remember using an IBM clone running MS-DOS.<\/p>\n

Today, I run Linux.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the operating system I use on my own personal computer,\u00a0\u00a0I’ve always been interested in the history of how the computer industry came about. Which is why the latest book I have on loan from the the\u00a0local library just happens to be “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell? \u00a0Well, I’m 18\u00a0chapters in. \u00a0But it appears the big revelation so far is this: \u00a0Xerox invented the desktop computer (with Graphic User Interface and mouse)…and Steve Jobs stole it from them. \u00a0This event is\u00a0also described as being a fumble by Xerox. \u00a0Xerox HAD the desktop computer! \u00a0They simply didn’t know how to market it and bring it to the masses. \u00a0Jobs and Apple recovered the fumble and ran with the ball. \u00a0The book does go on to say that Jobs and his team improved on the overall design and built even more features into the operating system and GUI.<\/p>\n

And then there’s the revelation of Microsoft stealing the OS and GUI from Apple! \u00a0Jobs was furious upon learning this. \u00a0He had a personal meeting with Gates and for minutes on end, yelled , screamed, berated, and hollered accusing Bill Gates of this ultimate \u00a0betrayal. \u00a0Remaining quite calm, Bill Gates famously responded, “Well, Steve, I think there\u2019s more than one way of looking at it. I think it\u2019s more like we both had this rich neighbor named Xerox and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found out that you had already stolen it.”<\/p>\n

It really is a terrific read! \u00a0And while it’s all about Steve Jobs, it delves into\u00a0the wider history of the development of the personal computer due to Jobs’ interaction with software developers and others who played a role in shaping the industry.<\/p>\n

If you do a Google Search, a lot of info comes up. Youtube has many videos detailing Mac\/Xerox\u00a0including this one:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NxEmJu8OSug<\/p>\n

You can also see Xerox demonstrate their desktop computer in a video presentation. \u00a0Youtube has this video demo at:<\/p>\n